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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663721">King Jet Rocks</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberry_sky/pseuds/strawberry_sky'>strawberry_sky</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dimension 20 (A Crown of Candy), Dimension 20 (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, MAJOR EPISODE 9 SPOILERS, Y'ALL ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS, sadness. that's what.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:54:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,485</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberry_sky/pseuds/strawberry_sky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Since the twin princesses were young, there are two things that have been true: that Jet is supposed to rule Candia, and that she won't.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jet Rocks &amp; Ruby Rocks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>136</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>King Jet Rocks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>emily and siobhan got me, man, i don't know what to tell you</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ruby shoulders open the door to the attic. There’s a half-open treasure chest in the middle of the room, glowing with some soft golden light.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An unmistakably </span>
  <em>
    <span>magical </span>
  </em>
  <span>light. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit,” Jet breathes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So much has been going on for the past few weeks that Ruby had almost forgotten about her mother. Her mother, who used to be in love with an archmage. Her mother, who Ruby </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>seen do magic before, but never something like turning the ground around six different people into caramel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hadn’t felt like the right moment when Mom was so worried and yelling at them and clearly just wanted to talk to Dad, but Ruby is very excited to show her mother what she can do now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she’s very excited to see what’s in this box. She draws closer to it, reaching out one hand to lift the lid. She feels Jet link their pinkies, the quiet solidarity of successfully getting into mischief combined with the trepidation of whichever of their mother’s secrets they’re about to uncover. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a sudden and rapid scuffling of feet, and Ruby whips around, dropping Jet’s hand. She hears the now all-too-familiar clicking of Liam firing his crossbow, can just barely see the outline of her friend in a fighting stance but can’t see what he’s firing on--</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then there are blades all around them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>From the rafters in the corner of the room, Ruby watches as Jet pokes her head around the half-open door. Her sister holds up her hand, counting silently and exaggeratedly, </span>
  </em>
  <span>one, two, three!</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet throws open the door, yelling out “SNEAK ATTACK!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Their father looks up from his desk. “Jet, it’s not a sneak attack if you yell--”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Before he’s even finished his sentence, Ruby drops from the ceiling. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Whoa!” King Amethar surges to his feet and laughs his booming laugh as Ruby wraps her arms around her father’s enormous neck. He brings his arms up behind him, securing Ruby in the piggyback as Jet stands proudly with her hands on her hips in front of his desk.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Surprised?” she says teasingly. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Surprised,” says their father. Ruby can’t see his face, but she can hear the smile in his voice. She leans her cheek against his shoulder. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It was all my idea,” says Jet.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It was not!” Ruby says indignantly, picking her head up again. “I came up with hiding on the ceiling and I jumped! You didn’t even do anything!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Okay, but I was the one who said we should do a sneak attack and I was the one who said I should be the distraction!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You’re quite the acrobat, Ruby,” says their father, effortlessly swinging Ruby off his back and kissing her cheek before setting her down on the desk, right on top of a stack of papers that look important. “And that’s a great maneuver, Jet. Real mark of a leader, coming up with the plans. You’ll be a great queen someday.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet’s proud grin fades into a frown. She crosses her arms. “I don’t want to be queen.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby picks up Dad’s crown from the edge of the desk and puts it on her head. It falls down right over her face. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It seems really boring,” Jet continues. “You just have to go to meetings and sign documents. I don’t wanna do that.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Their father lets out a heavy sigh. He reaches out his big hand and tousles the top of Jet’s hair. “Yeah, kiddo. I don’t blame you.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a sharp </span>
  <em>
    <span>clang </span>
  </em>
  <span>of steel on watersteel as Jet brings Flickorice up, blocking the first knife aimed at her and pressing the advantage, sticking her sword into the black-cloaked assassin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruby dodges under a knife, deflects another off her bracers. She and Jet are back-to-back now. There’s no sign of Liam. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jet hisses in pain and Ruby glances over her shoulder, just briefly, to note that Jet is now favoring her left side, that Jet has her teeth bared, that Jet has maneuvered them so that Ruby is standing closer to the treasure chest and Jet is the one who looks like the bigger threat. The realization makes Ruby nauseous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their mother had wanted them to go to bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hate it when she’s right</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Ruby thinks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“How many times do I have to tell you not to play in the woods when it’s raining?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby winces as her mother yanks the comb through her hair, picking out the sticks and leaves that are tangled there. “You’re old enough to know better by now.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“We didn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>know </span>
  <em>
    <span>it was going to rain,” Jet mutters resentfully from where she’s leaning against the wall, waiting for her turn under her mother’s ferocious combing. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I don’t see what the big deal is,” says Ruby. “Mud washes out.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And dozens of people saw the princesses of Candia running through the court by themselves, yelling and covered in mud!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“The other kids get to do it!” Jet protests.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well, you’re not other kids,” says their mother with another tug on the comb that makes Ruby wince in pain. “You especially, Jet. You’re the heir to the throne, it matters how you conduct yourself.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ughhhhhhhh,” Jet complains, rolling her eyes so exaggeratedly that Ruby thinks it must hurt a little. “I don’t WANT to be the heir to the throne! I don’t WANT people to care what I look like or what I’m doing! I don’t want any of this!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby braces herself. Her mother’s face is right next to her ear and if Jet gets yelled at, Ruby’s hearing is going to be in the crossfire. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But their mother doesn’t yell. She gets very quiet, and sad, and that’s somehow worse. “You can’t always get what you want.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby and Jet lock eyes. Ruby shrugs. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“But...I should get what I want,” Jet says lamely. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I wish you could, sweetheart,” their mother says, still in that gentle, impossibly sad tone. Ruby turns around. The comb is forgotten in Queen Caramelinda’s hand, and there are tears in her eyes, but she’s not looking at Jet. For some reason, she’s looking down at the ring she wears on her right hand, the one with the blue stone. “But when you’re the princess, there are more important things to think about than what you want.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The knife gets under Ruby’s arm and buries itself between her ribs. She tries and fails to choke back a cry of pain as the poison shoots through her veins, burning and freezing, corrosive water eating away at the very substance of her being. Her steps falter, her vision goes blurry, and for a second she thinks everything’s going to go meet her Aunt Lazuli right now, but she manages to stay on her feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She can hear her sister’s breathing, unsteady beside her. One of the assassins has three crossbow bolts sticking out of him, and it doesn’t seem to have slowed him down at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruby thinks about Theo, about that magic shield sending him rocketing across the battlefield, about all the times he’s told them not to sneak off on their own. But they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>home</span>
  </em>
  <span>, they’d felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>safe</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’d been so </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“So if someone’s coming at you with a short blade, you can parry and disarm them like this, see?” Sir Theo demonstrates the maneuver in slow motion, and the practice dagger flies out of Ruby’s hand.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ooooooh,” Jet gasps. “Do that again!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Alright, one more time.” Theo looks pleased to have Jet and Ruby’s full attention and respect, for once. Literal years of pestering the old knight to teach them how to fight seem to have finally paid off. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Theo demonstrates the move again, and again the dagger clatters on the stone floor.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Let me try!” demands Jet.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Theo hesitates, clearly thinking through the repercussions of handing Jet a blade, even a practice one. “Well...you’re twelve, that’s probably old enough to learn to fight. It’s possible that someone will come at you with a dagger someday.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Theo hands Jet his sword and picks up the dagger. “Now, don’t feel bad if you don’t get this first try, it takes a lot of practice--”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Before he’s even finished his sentence, the dagger is on the floor. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wow. Okay. You just...that’s genuinely impressive.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet beams.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They do it again. And then again. And then Ruby tries, although she can’t seem to get the hang of it and eventually she gives the sword back to Jet and goes back to practicing handstands. “Maybe a bow,” Theo suggests. “I bet you’d be really good with a bow. We’ll try that tomorrow.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby is fine with this, and perfectly content to watch, upside-down, as Jet learns more and more complicated methods of disarming an assailant. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>After one particularly spectacular maneuver sends the practice sword flying fully across the courtyard and Theo jogging after it, Jet turns to her sister, wiping the sweat off her brow, with the biggest grin Ruby has ever seen. “Ruby, this is IT.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“This is what?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“This is what I’m meant for! Screw all the queen stuff, </span>
  </em>
  <span>this </span>
  <em>
    <span>is where I belong! I want a sword! I want to be a warrior!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I think you’d be great at that,” Ruby says, sincerely. Ruby still doesn’t know what </span>
  </em>
  <span>she’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>good at, what </span>
  </em>
  <span>she </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants to do, but she can see that Jet really is good at this. But then again, Ruby thinks Jet would be great at whatever she decided to do. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet whirls, her eyes alight. “Theo, teach me a killing blow!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her bow. Ruby reaches for her bow, blinking blood out of her eyes as she grabs an arrow, holds it to the string with trembling fingers. She half-turns, to take aim at the one Liam shot. Maybe if she hits in the right spot, maybe she can take him out, and then--and then there will only be three--</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruby can barely stand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She feels a hand grab her arm. Jet. Her sister. Jet, sword in hand, blood-and-water stain spreading across her side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jet looks at Ruby, her eyes wide with something that might be courage and might be terror, and, barely above a whisper: “I think you should run.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Ruby watches as the second dagger goes into her back, and Jet drops. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Now, the </span>
  </em>
  <span>real </span>
  <em>
    <span>trouble started when your great-great-grandfather referred to Lord Thundersugar’s mother as “nougat.” We refer to this as the Cotton Candy Conflict--” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Lapin’s voice can always be described as “droning,” but today is particularly bad, made worse by the fact that it’s a beautiful day outside. Ruby is constructing a tower of school supplies on her desk. Jet’s eyes are glazed over in boredom. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ahem,” says Lapin’s voice.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Both princesses look up to see the chocolate primogen towering over them. Those ears make him very good at towering.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Lapin raises a bushy eyebrow. “Can either of you tell me any of what I just said?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Great Great Grandpa was bad at insults,” Ruby says. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“The Cotton Candy Conflict is way more boring than it sounds,” Jet mutters.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“These are both technically correct,” Lapin admits. “However, I would suggest you both pay more attention to my illustrious lectures. As ridiculous as it may seem, matters like these may one day be the difference between life or death.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“In what </span>
  </em>
  <span>possible </span>
  <em>
    <span>way?” says Jet. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Small alliances and insults are where the fate of countries are decided,” says Lapin mildly. “You’ll understand when you’re on the throne, Princess Jet.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet is uncharacteristically silent.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Lapin turns away, back to the chalkboard. “Now then. The Cotton Candy Conflict was peacefully resolved by a particularly strategic afternoon tea--”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Can we get out of here?” Jet mutters in Twinspeak out of the corner of her mouth.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby glances over and is surprised and alarmed by how upset her sister looks. She doesn’t answer, just nods, and picks up a rubber band, looping it over her thumb and very carefully taking aim at a precarious jar of candy chalk. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Her aim is true. The chalk jar falls to the ground and shatters, and by the time Lapin finishes being startled and looks around, Jet and Ruby are both already out the window. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You good?” says Ruby as she helps Jet to her feet and they both take off toward town. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jet says. She does already look happier, now that they’re out in the sunshine. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They slow as they near the bridge that leads into town. Ruby hops up onto the stone railing and carefully walks along it, arms out for balance as the cola river rushes by below. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I just hate hearing about the things I’m going to have to do when I’m queen,” Jet sighs. “Like, if I insult the wrong person it could start a war? I hate that.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I also hate it,” Ruby agrees. “Too much responsibility.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And I don’t MIND responsibility if it’s something I’m GOOD at, but I’m not good at not insulting people!” Jet kicks the royal seal in the middle of the bridge. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Just insult them anyway,” says Ruby. “You’ll be the queen, no one can tell you what to do.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m sure people will still tell me what to do,” Jet mutters. “People tell Dad what to do all the time.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby hops lightly off the end of the bridge. “Well, maybe you won’t need people to tell you what to do, because you’ll be such a great queen.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I don’t think I’ll be a great queen,” says Jet.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey.” Ruby lightly punches Jet in the shoulder. “Don’t say that about my sister. My sister will be the best queen Candia has ever seen.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That gets the smallest little smile out of Jet. “Maybe. Maybe if there was a war. I think I’m not very good at peace, but I’d probably be a lot better at war.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You would be very good at war,” Ruby agrees.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“General Jet. Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sourscratch is still in Ruby’s hand, an arrow already nocked to the string, but Ruby can’t take her eyes off her sister’s body, crumpled on the floor, lit by the golden light from the forgotten treasure chest. Ruby’s blood is rushing in her ears, there are still assassins all around them, and all she can think is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jet, Jet, Jet, Jet, Jet</span>
  </em>
  <span>--</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Run,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” comes another voice, intense and desperate, and Ruby can’t see Liam but she knows he’s there, crouched in the shadows. Maybe Liam can get himself out. Maybe he can get Jet out. But he can’t do that if he has to help Ruby, too, and she’s swaying on her feet, she’s barely standing--</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The attic smells like blood.</span>
</p><p><span>On the floor, Jet is coughing, water corroding the sugar of her body the same way it’s corroding Ruby’s, Ruby already staggering from just one knife and Jet took </span><em><span>two</span></em><span>, but Ruby won’t survive another hit and her head is spinning and everything hurts and </span><em><span>she doesn’t want to</span></em> <em><span>die--</span></em></p><p>
  <span>Ruby runs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’ll just abdicate.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby doesn’t even look up from her sketchbook. “You will not, because then I’d have to be queen and I don’t want to be queen any more than you do.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I don’t think you get any say in it.” Jet is lying on Ruby’s bed, playing with the tassels of a throw pillow.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“If you abdicate and make me be queen, I’ll kill you.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“If you kill me you have to be queen anyway.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes, exactly, so if you’re already making me be queen then I have no reason to keep you alive.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet throws the pillow at Ruby, causing Ruby to score a long line through the middle of what had been a big candy-floss tree. Ruby sighs and puts her pencil down. It had been a pretty bad sketch, anyway. Maybe drawing isn’t her thing. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You could also abdicate,” Jet points out as she lays back on Ruby’s bed, staring at the ceiling with her hands linked behind her head. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And then what, Duke Jawbreaker gets to be king?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“At least he wants it,” Jet mutters. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There’s more to be said, but Ruby knows her sister well enough to know that she doesn’t want logical arguments right now. She lays the sketchbook aside and climbs onto the bed, letting Jet shift slightly so that there’s room. She takes the end of Jet’s braid in her hand and starts taking it apart, combing her fingers through her sister’s licorice curls. “We’ll just run away,” she says. “Leave it all behind. I’ve been thinking about joining the circus. You can come with me.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet smirks. “Promise?” It’s half-sarcastic, half-hopeful. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Promise.” They can’t, of course. Even at sixteen, they know that. But Ruby means what she says. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ruby half-leaps down the stairs, crashes out of the shop, and then she’s running, ignoring the pain in her side, ignoring the pain in her legs, hand clutched around the Locket of the Sweetest Heart. It’s glowing. It’s warm in her hand. She’s counting the heartbeats. They’re flickering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s running, and she’s running, with a half-formed plan to get back to the castle, to get Theo, to get Dad…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s running, and in her hand, the light of the locket goes out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ruby, I think...I think I’m gonna take the throne.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ruby takes her eyes away from the potentially-full-of-assassins crowd around them long enough to look over at her sister. “Shut up.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah.” Jet is smiling, slightly, trepidatious and proud all at once. She looks stronger, like she somehow packed a year’s worth of workouts into just today’s tournament. Her hand is resting comfortably on the hilt of her sword, like it’s been at her hip her entire life. She looks so much...older.  </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“That’s really cool,” says Ruby, and she means it. “I really think it’s cool, and you’re going to do a great job.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet grins. “I was thinking like, maybe I could be king and YOU could be queen!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“That’s--not how that works and that’s really incest-y.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Okay, I’ll keep working on it,” Jet laughs. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You should have paid a little more attention in class, I know it’s boring, but--” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“But we could redefine what king and queen means! A king and a queen is just about having a connection! You cannot argue, we have a deeper connection--” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Okay, but, can </span>
  </em>
  <span>I</span>
  <em>
    <span> get married?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sure, you can get married!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You can have a deep connection without sex,” Liam cuts in. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hi, Liam,” Ruby says. She had almost forgotten he was there. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She falls silent, and goes back to scanning for threats as Jet and Liam begin to go into a deeper discussion of the particulars of human connection and the definitions of king and queen. She knows she shouldn’t be surprised by this. Jet is the heir to the throne, someday she will take it, this has always been true. And based on the number of attempts on their father’s life in the past few days, “someday” has started to seem terrifyingly close. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But all the same, there’s a sadness to it, thinking back on their eighteen years of plans and schemes for how to dodge that exact responsibility. It’s the same sadness she feels seeing Jet try and fail to conjure the magic Ruby can, or hearing the way her sister’s footsteps have gotten heavier and her muscles stronger even as Ruby becomes better and better at sticking to the shadows. Little reminders that they’re not just Jet and Ruby Rocks, twin princesses, any more. That maybe they really are grown up. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jet will be an excellent king. Ruby is glad that her sister has found the strength to accept the responsibility that she didn’t really want. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In her place, Ruby doesn’t know if she’d feel the same. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She links her pinky with her sister’s, and gently leans her head against her shoulder as they walk, feeling the beat of the Locket of the Sweetest Heart against her chest.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In another life, Ruby sees a crown of sugar being placed on Jet’s brow, hears Lapin saying “rise, King Jet of House Rocks” with pride in his voice. She sees their mother smiling, sees tears shining in Theo’s eyes as he stands at attention, sees Liam clapping excitedly from the front row. Sees herself, standing at Jet’s shoulder, archmage to the greatest king Candia has ever seen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In yet another life, she sees the two of them, bastard children who never had a claim or a duty to the throne, making titles of their own. Sees General Jet Rocks, sworn to the sword, smiling as she dances across the battlefield. Sees herself, soaring from trapeze to trapeze, the wind in her hair and freedom in her fingertips, throwing a wink and a </span>
  <em>
    <span>Message </span>
  </em>
  <span>down to her sister in the stands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In this life, the locket is cold in her hand. Ruby sees Jet, just Jet, desperate and dying, and beyond that she sees nothing else. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>if you need to yell at me my inbox is open at drinkingdeadpeopletea.tumblr.com &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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